The decision by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Science and Technology to push for the eviction of persons whose houses are close to the E-waste collection centre around the Atomic Energy Commission at Kwabenya in Accra, raises questions critical to the country’s development.
We are learning that per a publication by the Central Pollution Control Board of India in 2017, the recommended buffer from an E-waste site should be at least 200 metres, but some of the houses in the case at issue now are as close as 100 metres.
The question is, who first owned the land on which those houses are built and how did it come to be owned by the house owners?
And even if they acquired the land legally, how come they flouted the distance dictated by the buffer zone?
This is where the wonder of Dr Emmanuel Marfo, Chairman of the Select Committee, as to why authorities could allow residential facilities to be erected so close to the site, considering the health implications of residing in such an environment, is a critical question that must be answered by the authorities.
We think in its recommendations, the committee must be vehement about this and get to the bottom of the matter.
To us, the E-waste case is one of many that have not been tackled, which give others the impetus to perpetrate such illegality and nuisance, in spite of the dangers to human life and other implications.
We wish to help Dr Marfo dispel his wonder (if he is the only stranger in Jerusalem) by saying that the problem has arisen because of the lack of law enforcement, corruption in general, misuse of state power by certain state officials and other ‘big’ men like chiefs, and the neglect of duty by the district assemblies, their mere ineptitude or powerlessness.
Can the district assembly having oversight of the E-waste dumpsite give any excuse or explanation to justify what has happened?
We think the current case must not be treated with kids’ gloves.
Thus, when it is raised in Parliament or any other appropriate quarters, the eviction should not attract needless debate to waste time and energy.
We can fathom that some lawyers have started thinking of going to the aid of the owners of properties in the E-waste dumpsite.
If that actually happens, we will not mince words to describe such lawyers as nation wreckers and people who do not value human life as they would have overlooked the dangers looming around the affected houses.
We know the eviction is going to cost the state some money, which would have been avoided if there had been some vigilance on the part of, at least, the district assembly because it is the institution which leads development in the area.
Were the houses in such a critical area erected with permits from the assembly?
If so, was the environmental impact assessment done?
We think if nothing at all, all the people who have a hand in the encroachment must be found and surcharged with any cost that will be incurred as a result of the eviction, which we believe will involve the demolition of the houses.
It is time to check indiscriminate development as that has a lot of negative implications for the country’s progress.
